Minister welcomes refugees

A HELPING HAND Senator John Carty, pictured with Minister Conor Lenihan, making friends with a young member of the Karen Community during their visit in Ballyhaunis to the new Orientation Centre for the training of refugees.  
Pic: Michael Donnelly


Lenihan welcomes Burmese refugees

Áine Ryan and Neill O’Neill

AS a former radio journalist, Minister for Integration, Conor Lenihan, was once asked to establish a pirate radio station in the hilly areas of Burma and Thailand to highlight the plight of the Burmese people. While the Minister never managed to become a rebel reporter, he told a gathering of Burmese refugees yesterday (Monday) afternoon in Ballyhaunis that Ireland’s history of conflict was comparable to the beleaguered oriental country.
“We in Ireland had our own persecution for many years by a neighbouring power but we have now overcome it and, according to statistics, we are one of the richest countries in the world and you should take full advantage of that,” said Minister Lenihan.
He was speaking at a reception in the Ballyhaunis Orientation and Training centre to welcome 52 refugees – ten families – who had lived in an isolated refugee camp on Burma’s border with Thailand. After an eight-week induction course, the families will be relocated to Castlebar and Ballina where they will begin a new life under a UN programme. The group includes an 81-year-old man, Lakaw, and a six-month-old baby. 
“Some of these people have suffered in horrendous circumstances and have been in refugee camps for ten years. I know how vulnerable it has been for the Karen Burmese and they are coming here because of dreadful persecution,” the Minister continued.
He praised Mayo County Council and the many agencies involved in the project. He observed to the refugees that politicians in Ireland were noted for their friendliness, their hard-working ethic and their approachability.
Welcoming the group, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Seamus Weir said that ‘most Mayo families know what it is like to have members of their families going abroad to work and live’, and as a result, Mayo people would happily receive this new community.
“I would like to commend the people of Ballyhaunis for accepting the large number of asylum seekers as well as refugees into their town and urge Minister Lenihan to support the town in seeking extra funding to upgrade the facilities of the area, including the swimming pool, the library, and other social and recreational amenities,” said Cllr Weir. 
In acknowledgment of the reception, the teenage boys and girls of the refugee group sang a traditional Karen Song outlining their historic difficulties. 
Meanwhile, last Wednesday, Meitheal Mhaigh Eo held an information night in Day’s Hotel to inform the Castlebar community of what to expect ahead of the group’s resettlement in the county town in November.
“This is a work in progress,” Gerry Mulherin, development officer with Meitheal Mhaigh Eo, told The Mayo News, “and we are counting on people to help out. These are an ethnic group of Karen people who have spent the last ten years in a refugee camp on the Thai border with Burma, so while they are delighted to be given this chance, it is obviously a huge culture shock for them.”
Language and communication are the biggest barriers for the group, according to Gerry, as they are completely unfamiliar with western writing. The adults are undertaking English lessons at the moment and the search is on for private rental accommodation to house families in Castlebar.
Meitheal Mhaigh Eo have been given the contract to help the group settle in Mayo and will be co-ordinating their housing, healthcare, education and general wellbeing. The teenagers among the group will be attending Davitt College in Castlebar.
Tomorrow (Wednesday), there will be a second meeting in Day’s Hotel at 8pm, where people who want to get involved and help the refugees will be informed about what they can do and how to help the families settle in better.